Abstract: In this paper, it is attempted to probe into the patterns of main populations of Ammodendron argenteum communities and their affecting factors in Takeermohuer Desert based upon the data collected through field work in sample plots. The dispersal index, clump intensity, mean crowding, patch index, Green index, intensity index, fitting test of Poisson distribution and negative binomial distribution were used in the study. The distribution patterns and affecting factors of the main populations of A. argenteum communities were researched, and the relations among the six indexes were analyzed with correlation analysis. The results revealed that the distribution patterns of the main populations of A. argenteum communities were all clumped, and there was a difference in clump intensity. Moreover, the distribution patterns were closely related to the biological habits of the main populations diffused and bred by seeds, also to the spatial asynchronization of the main populations of the community ecology induced by spatial asymmetry of nutrient and soil moisture content in the severe desert, and the common ecological habits of the populations adapted for the desert environment. A certain ecological significance was characterized by the six exponential methods, and a mutual corroboration of the x²  test for Poisson distribution and negative binomial distribution was carried out so as to determine the spatial distribution patterns of the main populations of A. argenteum communities well.

Key words: Ammodendron argenteum, community, population, distribution pattern, Takeermohuer Desert, Yili, Xinjiang